ABSTRACT
Many of those who currently advocate alternative assessment point out that the root of the word assessment is derived from a Latin verb assidere, which means “to sit beside” (Chittenden 1991; Herman, Ashbacher, and Winters 1992; Wolf, LeMahieu, and Eresh 1992). It is likely that their mentioning of this term is intended to point out that, in order to reveal what children really know, it is necessary to be close to them, perhaps even moving alongside them as they pursue the challenges of learning. As a special educator, I very much like the idea of being close enough to children in order to understand them, since many of the children I have taught over the years have not always been able to tell me what they know. Nevertheless, I prefer to extend my thinking beyond considering the adjacency of the teacher into an awareness of the perceptions s/he employs in assessment and evaluation, particularly that of seeing.
